On Mon, 19 Feb 2007 14:41:25 +0000, Chris Morrison
<hidden@nospam.priv> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>I wonder if anyone can give me some advice or pointers on the following.
>
>A friend of mine is in the process of trying to end her 3G mobile phone contract as money is a bit
>tight and she cannot afford the monthly payments.
>
>She wrote to 3 and told them that she wished to cancel and they have written back to her and told
>her that she is in an 18 month contract which does not end until September, and that if she wants to
>cancel now she will have to give them £313. This was originally stated as the remaining line rental,
>although they are now calling this a 'cancellation fee.'
>
>On top of this she has been late paying her bill for this month due to money being tight.
>
>3 are now saying that her account is being transferred to a debt collection agency (even though she
>assured them that her bill would be paid when she gets paid in 2 weeks time) and 3 are saying that
>the debt collection agency will add further costs possibly bringing the total she owes up to £700 -
>£900.
>
>My questions are:
>
>Locking someone into a contract for 18 months and charging them £300+ to get out of it is immoral,
>punitive and unfair. Surely this must come under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations
>1999 or some such. Does any know of any cases or precedents where this has been challenged in court?

I was locked into a 25 year contract and if I had at any time decided
that I wanted out of it i would have had to have repaid my mortgage -
if i hadn't then my bank would have pursued me through the courts.
Being tied into an 18 month contract and then being chased for the
outstanding debt certainly isn't immoral - did your friend enter the
contract of her own free will? Or did 3 force her to sign up?
>
>Since she is a 3 customer and has not entered into any contract with whichever debt collection
>agency they choose to use, how do they have the right to add their own fees on top of the original
>debt, and are these enforceable in court?

A contract exists between your friend and 3, likewise a contract
exists between 3 and the debt collection agency (or more likely 3 have
sold the debt of £313 on - there is no contract between your friend
and the debt agency
>
>Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated and sorry for the length of this post.

Suggest your friend contacts 3 and offers to pay down the debt at an
amount to be agreed per month, also ask 3 if she may downgrade to a
cheaper contract.

The main thing is for your friend not to hide her head in the sand,
but to communicate with 3, explain hr problem and try and get it
sorted

Good luck
--
Cheers

Peter

Please remove the invalid to reply